We made a Waterslide Boxcar to enter into the Barclaycard competition to spoof their waterslide advert. We figured the best part of that ad was the sliding effortlessly round the city in your underpants so we decided to add wheels to something that looked like a waterslide.
Follow these steps to make your own waterslide boxcar or alter to make different sorts of boxcars(obviously I'm not expecting you'll be wanting to make it look like a waterslide but you can alter this however you want so for this make just play along!).
Adding wheels to things is fun.
Follow these steps to make your own waterslide boxcar or alter to make different sorts of boxcars(obviously I'm not expecting you'll be wanting to make it look like a waterslide but you can alter this however you want so for this make just play along!).
Adding wheels to things is fun.
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Signing UpStep 1: Parts and Equipment
You will need;
1 big butt (barrel)
We got this water butt (see pictures) from a strange place in the Forest of Dean. It was only a tenner as it was second hand; it used to hold BBQ sauce in. Turns out it still had 3 buckets of BBQ sauce in for first thing we did was empty it and wash it. I smelly saucy. I recommend any kind of plastic barrel for this boxcar
4x wheels
We used wheel barrow wheels. Make sure you can pump these up properly if you use them (you don't want to be riding on flat tires)
1 sheet of ply wood
Sized appropriately for the base of your barrel
2x 2 by 4
Two bits of wood cut to the length of your barrel
2x threaded steal rod
For the axel so they must be significantly longer than the width of the barrel
4x hollow steel poles
You need two different sizes. One goes over the threaded pole and one over that again to strengthen the axel. We used 2 washing line poles. Each needs to be just longer than the width of the barrel and all the same size.
16 nuts
To thread round the threaded pole so make sure they fit
6 bolts
To bolt the barrel to the inner base
6 big washers
Must thread onto the bolts
Some screws - more than 10 and less that 30 will do
For screwing the 2x4 to the ply wood
Plastic Tubing
There clip over the edges of the barrel to protect the rider from the sharp edges, not necessary but certainly safer
Some Rope
To pull it with
Plenty of Water Pistols
To make it into a WATERslide... yup that works
Tools
Saw
Jigsaw or hand saw (although your hands may get tired)
Grinder
To cut the metal to size
2 x Spanners
Or wrenches if you want to call them that. You'll need 2 to tighten the nuts against each other
Drill
For drilling, different sized bits needed
Screwdriver
Electric = loads less effort
Scalpul
For cutting the plastic tubing and rope
Father
My Pa helped me make this because I'm 24 and still not allowed to use power tools (and cos he's way good at this stuff and I'm a liability). But seriously, this requires adults with power tools.
1 big butt (barrel)
We got this water butt (see pictures) from a strange place in the Forest of Dean. It was only a tenner as it was second hand; it used to hold BBQ sauce in. Turns out it still had 3 buckets of BBQ sauce in for first thing we did was empty it and wash it. I smelly saucy. I recommend any kind of plastic barrel for this boxcar
4x wheels
We used wheel barrow wheels. Make sure you can pump these up properly if you use them (you don't want to be riding on flat tires)
1 sheet of ply wood
Sized appropriately for the base of your barrel
2x 2 by 4
Two bits of wood cut to the length of your barrel
2x threaded steal rod
For the axel so they must be significantly longer than the width of the barrel
4x hollow steel poles
You need two different sizes. One goes over the threaded pole and one over that again to strengthen the axel. We used 2 washing line poles. Each needs to be just longer than the width of the barrel and all the same size.
16 nuts
To thread round the threaded pole so make sure they fit
6 bolts
To bolt the barrel to the inner base
6 big washers
Must thread onto the bolts
Some screws - more than 10 and less that 30 will do
For screwing the 2x4 to the ply wood
Plastic Tubing
There clip over the edges of the barrel to protect the rider from the sharp edges, not necessary but certainly safer
Some Rope
To pull it with
Plenty of Water Pistols
To make it into a WATERslide... yup that works
Tools
Saw
Jigsaw or hand saw (although your hands may get tired)
Grinder
To cut the metal to size
2 x Spanners
Or wrenches if you want to call them that. You'll need 2 to tighten the nuts against each other
Drill
For drilling, different sized bits needed
Screwdriver
Electric = loads less effort
Scalpul
For cutting the plastic tubing and rope
Father
My Pa helped me make this because I'm 24 and still not allowed to use power tools (and cos he's way good at this stuff and I'm a liability). But seriously, this requires adults with power tools.
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I can see me putting in a small steering wheel, a horn of some kind, maybe a few other things to make him happy.
it was a good read, & it looks quite cute for a kid's toy.
TY for sharing.
That's a nice looking boxcar, I just have one tiny concern- how do you steer?